GMA:More Young Women Getting Breast Cancer

April 17, 2001 -- Janice Bonadio was just 27 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease she thought only struck older women.

Funny thing was, she discovered the lump in her breast almost on a lark after she read a story in a magazine about self-exams then decided to give it a try. Convinced that other young women might also be in the dark about their risk factor, Bonadio founded the Big Bam! Foundation a year after she was done with breast cancer treatment.

The fundraising group is aimed at informing young women and the public about a growing concern that breast cancer is striking more women under 40. It also helps young women without insurance pay for mammograms and raises money for cancer research.

Why worry so young? Big Bam! says younger women tend not to believe that breast cancer could strike them so young, and hence the cancer tends to go unchecked until it is far along.

About 192,000 women are expected to develop breast cancer this year, but the number of younger women contracting the disease are still relatively small, according to the American Cancer Society.

The incidences of breast cancer are one in 225 in women under 39. The rate rises to one in 24 in women ages 40 to 59 and one in 14 in women ages 60 to 79. The chances of developing breast cancer over a lifetime are one in eight, the American Cancer Society says.

Even though more women in their 50s get breast cancer, young women are more likely to either need a mastectomy or die from it, said Dr. Rache Simmons, a breast surgeon at Strang-Cornell Breast Center in New York. .

"And not only are women unaware, so are their physicians," Simmons said. "I'm a cancer specialist, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard women say they were told by their doctor that a lump was nothing or that they were too young to have breast cancer, only to go to a specialist and find out that they had stage two cancer or worse."

Hitting College Campuses

Big Bam! has been offering its literature on college campuses, with a youth-oriented breast cancer awareness campaign that uses brightly colored ads and eye-grabbing graphics. The goal is to get young women in the habit of doing self-breast exams .

Breast cancer threatens women of every race, every color and every age. But the best defense is to catch it early. Studies show that when cancers are new and small, they are usually confined to just one area of the breast, and can be removed, leaving the breast intact. The danger of waiting: as the cancer gets larger it can spread to other organs in the body.

In many cases, breast cancers are found by the women who have it, and not necessarily by doctors or through the use of diagnostic equipment.

Doctors recommend monthly self-exams, about a week after your period ends, when your breasts are not tender or swollen. You should know what your breasts feel like right after your period, and during the rest of the month so that you can tell when something is wrong.

Examining your Breasts

Experts say that done effectively a clinical breast exam (CBE) is a very effective way to detect breast cancer, and the American Cancer Society recommends that women between 20 and 40 who do not have a history of breast cancer get a CBE at least once every three years and should perform monthly breast self-examinations. Women age 40 and older should have an annual mammogram, an annual CBE and perform monthly breast self-examinations.

One study found that 15 percent of cancers were caught by breast exam, and by doing the exam in conjunction with mammograms, doctors were able to find 5 percent more cancers than with mammograms only.

The exam should include: a medical history, a visual exam of the breast, an exam of the lymph nodes at the base of the neck and in the armpits, and a thorough examination of the breast tissue by touch.

Doctors should be looking for the same thing women doing a self-exam look for: a patch of redness or an inflamed section, dimpled skin, changes in the size, shape or color of the nipple, retraction of the nipple. They should check all of the breast tissue, and under the woman's armpits for lumps.